Monday, June 16, 2008

Charles James Fox

I've been putting off profiling Fox for a while, don't ask me why. He is a key player in this blog seeing as I have already mentioned him here, here and here; heck, he already has his own tag.

Fox was the result of the scandalous elopement of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland the politician and Lady Caroline Lennox, one of the Lennox sisters, daughter of the Duke of Richmond. He and his brothers were raised in a libertine Whig household with little to no boundaries. Despite not inheriting a title, Fox became a favorite of his father and therefore extremely spoiled. There are stories of Fox burning his father's speeches and smashing his watch, with no consequences.

Fox grew into a fat macaroni, with a taste for gambling, politics, and women. He also liked fashion and in the macaroni tastes, powder his hair different colors every day and wear multi-colored shoes embellished with velvet frills. He was just plain outrageous! Fox began his career in parliament at the tender age of 19. Being a Whig, he tended to oppose anything the monarchy liked and vice-verse. He supported both the French and American revolutions.Despite his outrageousness, he was extremely well spoken and when he came into contact with Georgiana in 1777 a friendship bloomed that last until both their deaths in 1806. The two friends (and possibly lovers) found in each other a certain understanding and camaraderie that they couldn't find with others in their circle. Both were huge celebrities and common characters in political satires. For the Westminster election of 1784 Georgiana made history by being the first woman to canvass when she canvassed Fox.

King George III and Queen Charlotte hated Fox, so naturally the Prince of Wales was drawn to him. I was about to list other friends of Fox, but the list would be never-ending. So I will just leave it at, if you were a Whig, such as the Duke of Devonshire, you were friends with Fox. Not only did Fox have a lot of famous friends but famous, or infamous, girlfriends. And they were all gorgeous! Aside from rumors about Georgiana, he had relations the most notorious tarts such as Elizabeth Armistead, Grace Dalrymple Elliot, and Mary 'Perdita' Robinson. He was a notorious bachelor, but toward the end of his life suddenly everyone was surprised to find out he had been married to Elizabeth Armistead (a notorious...well, you know) for years. His last words were to her: "It don't signify my dearest, dearest Liz."